The Demon (1972) User Reviews

Quite Striking

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 22 April 2019]

This uses a classic Asian stop action method. Two brothers who look a bit like they are made from porcelain go on a hunt. They live with their mother and have had a tough upbringing. While in the woods with their bows, they meet a demon. This was a striking film, different than we are used to. Good story based on Japanese legends.

An excellent introduction to Kawamoto's filmography.

[Rectangular_businessman · 10/10 · 3 December 2022]

A simple, but beautifully captivating short by the late Kihachiro Kawamoto, telling the haunting legend of a mother turned into a demon with age, becoming a threat to her own children.

This kind of primordial fear (Parents turning into a menace for their own offspring) is the perfect fuel for many disturbing horror stories (Take "The Shining", for example); however, here said type of story is exquisitely told in a pretty stylish manner, akin to some sort of stage play; a horror tale is turned into something poetical, quite beautiful to behold, disregard of its eerie premise.

Most people tend to associate all the animation made in Japan with anime (More specifically, shonen anime like Naruto or Dragon Ball Z); but such kind of generalization it's unfair towards artful works like this one.

Great Atmosphere and Setting

[Michael_Elliott · 1 October 2012]

Oni (1972)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Also known as THE DEMON, this was the first film I had watched from Japanese director Kihachiro Kawamoto. The tale is pretty simple as a couple brothers leave their elderly and ill mother at home while they go into the woods to try and catch some deer. While there the youngest brother is grabbed by a demon and the older brother is able to free him by shooting off the demon's arm. The boys take the arm home with tragic results. ONI is quite simply a rather amazing movie to watch because of how much atmosphere and dread it contains. I've seen quite a few puppet films in my time but there was just something really special and original about this one. After the film was over I learned that the story is based on a 12th century tale known as "Konjaku Monogatari" and needless to say, this here is a lot darker than the rather cute tales America gets about what happens to the elderly. I won't spoil exactly what happens but it was rather morbid to say the least. The animation was certainly terrific and I really loved the various backgrounds used.

Old Japanese animation

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 27 July 2016]

"Oni" or "The Demon" is a Japanese animated short film from 1972, which means this one is already almost 45 years old. It only runs for slightly under 8 minutes and was written and directed by Kihachiro Kawamoto, a fairly successful Japanese filmmaker in the 1970s. This is the story of two brothers, her mother and a demon that the men encounter while they are out hunting. The way you perceive this short film and how much you like it will pretty much entirely depend on how much you like the animation style. It is easily visible that this one is from Japan, even if it has nothing in common with what you generally think when you hear Japanese animation. It looks very retro. I personally did not really like the style and that had also had negative consequences in terms of how much I liked the plot, even if the story is nothing bad by any means. Still, for me not a memorable watch and I give it a thumbs-down.